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Month: May 2013

I had the opportunity to see an advanced screener of The Heat starring Sandra Bullock & Melissa McCartney. Here is what I thought was the Good, the Bad & the Ugly of the movie.

The story is based on an uptight know it all FBI Agent Sarah Ashburn, who is sent to Boston where she is to take down a drug lord. On the way she runs into Shannon Mullins a Boston cop with a mean and vicious attitude. They have never had a partner and now they are forced to team up to take down the drug lord.

The Good –

Director Paul Feig & casting – He did an amazing job casting this film, from top to bottom I enjoyed each person in their character. Feig also did a good job at directing the film as well, some parts I will point out later I had a problem with. Overall he made this an enjoyable chick/buddy cop flick.

Melissa McCartney as Det. Shannon Mullins – She has found her niche; she was perfect for this role. I truly couldn’t imagine anyone else in this role. Literally everything she did in this movie you could buy, she made the character true to life. She played a very good witty, sarcastic kick ass chick. The banter between her and Bullock was worth watching in itself.

Sandra Bullock as Special Agent Ashburn – Goes with what I am saying about Feig’s great casting job here, Bullock was perfect. She was an uptight; know it all, annoying FBI Agent that absolutely everyone hates to be around. It’s funny watching her battle with having to be social with Mullins as she is pushing to get the promotion.

Spoken Reason – Though he didn’t have a really big role in the film, when he was on-screen you couldn’t help but laugh. He was witty, funny and perfect for this role. He has enormous talent and I think we are watching a future star being born.

The Supporting Cast – The perfect group of supporting cast member were picked as well. Michael Rapaport was great in his role & his family was just a ball of fun to watch as well. Kaitlin Olson was hilarious in the small role she had & Tony Hale played a funny pale obnoxious cop.

The Laughs – This was a very funny movie, it was very surprised how the film kept the laughs coming. That is credit to Katie Dippold on a well written screen play and Feig for putting it together on the screen.

The Bad –

It had a really slow start, around the first 15 minutes of the movie I really could’ve done without. They introduced Bullock’s character 1st than McCartney’s. I think it would’ve been better if they switched it around.

No Build for the Bad Guy – The movie was based on the McCartney/Bullock combo and it should’ve been. But there was a huge gaping hole in the movie for the bad guy. Not to dive into spoilers but one of the main “bad guys” was supposed to be this tough guy that chopped limbs off people. Well he was in it a total of 10 minutes and when he was on-screen it wasn’t memorable. They tried to make up with it with a twist at the end and that seemed like a throw away moment.

The Ugly –

A score can make or break the movie. The score was terrible to start this movie; it wasn’t upbeat like it should’ve been. It was a bland mix of something dull and boring. As the movie progressed it got better.

The Verdict –

3 out of 5 Stars

If you can overlook the gaping holes of the bad guy, you get a fun female version of Cop Out. McCartney & Bullock are a great pairing in this movie. If this is a hit in the box office and I believe it will be, I expect a sequel for sure coming in the next year or two. If you are looking for a buddy cop movie that will make you laugh start to finish this is the movie for you.

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Thanks to Gofobo & Cinemit I had the opportunity to see The Internship last night. I am a huge fan of Vince Vaughn and big fan of Wedding Crashers that he and Wilson did.

The story is based around Two salesmen Billy (Vaughn) & Nick (Wilson) who become down on their luck when they find out that the business they work for goes out of business. They decide to try to take on a Google internship where they have to compete with tech geniuses in order for a shot at employment.

The Good –

The story was well put together; I was surprised to see that it was partly written by Vaughn himself. It did have your typical bring you up, down and back up story to it. This was okay because it all built itself up to come together at the end.

The Characters – Billy (Vaughn) & Nick (Wilson) had an awesome as I like to call it bromance going on. Both very likable characters that were fun to watch adapt to the “new age”. Hearing two guys who basically still live in the 90’s battle it out and figure stuff out in the present was great. Hearing Billy say “on the line” instead of online was hilarious. The scene where you see in the trailer, when there group sends them off to find Dr. Xavier is just as funny wrapped up in the film. Stuart (O’Brien) played a very nice “villianish” role in the movie.
Supporting Cast – I’ll just get it out there that I have a huge crush on Rose Byrne, who played her role just fine in the film. Mr. Chetty (Mandvi) was probably my favorite character in the film. He was just a witty, smart & annoying boss type that you could really hate. Josh Brener, Jessica Szohr & Max Minghella all brought nice touches to the “team”.
Vaughn and Wilson – I am pretty sure these two could play in anything and I would enjoy it. They have excellent chemistry together. They are a duo that I would like to see do more movies together.

Will Ferrell – I swear if he just did random cameos in every single movie I think I would be happy. I think sometimes his cameos are better than some of the movies he is in.

The Bad –The story isn’t as original as some of you might think. It has a very familiar story to Fired Up, a little known indie movie that didn’t get great recognition. It has very similar stories. Though it doesn’t take away whether it was a good or bad movie, it’s just not as “original” as everyone will think it will be.

This was a very safe movie, wasn’t outside the box. It was straight forward and really didn’t throw any good curve balls your way. You really knew where the film was going from start to finish.

They really could’ve done more with Byrne & Wilson; they rushed the storyline between the two. They really wanted a “romance” in the film and they kind of just threw it together.

The Ugly –

The Verdict –

3 ½ out of 5 stars

Shawn Levy & Vaughn did a great job in not making this a sole movie to tech savvy people. Vaughn & Wilson make a great pairing that I hope to see again in the future. The movie brought you up, down and back up again like you would want. Though the movie was safe and predictable, it was a fun feel good comedy that anyone can enjoy. I would recommend seeing this in theaters when it hits June 7th.

Yesterday I had the opportunity to see a special screener of Fast & the Furious Six. This was on my list of movies that were Must See this summer, so I had high expectations after Fast Five was the best of the franchise. So I give you the Good, the Bad & the Ugly of Fast & Furious 6.

The premise of the movie was based around Letty Ortiz (Rodriguez) who the crew thought was dead. Hobbs (Johnson) shows up with photos of her at Toretto’s (Diesel) doorstep. So he gets the crew together to get the member of the family back together. In order to get her and their freedom they have to bring down former Special Ops solider Owen Shaw (Evan).

The Good –

The Directing & Story – As you saw from the trailer this was going to bring the most outlandish explosive scenes we have seen yet from this franchise. Boy they didn’t let down one bit, whether it was seeing Shaw go down the interstate in a tank or seeing the crew bring down a plane. The cars, the woman, the action, the stunts & the fight scenes were all there in this movie. Justin Lin brought it to the table in this movie, with a non-stop thrill ride that left you on the edge of your seat. Lin who doesn’t look to be directing the 7th installment of the franchise went out with a bang in my opinion. He really brought in a new story that worked honestly. It was a nice build that lead to some great scenes amongst the cast.

The Fight scenes – I am not sure anything could top the fight scenes between Hobbs & Toretto in the last film but they came close. The fight scene between Han, Roman & Jah was classic, Jah just whooped both of these guys asses after taking out some cops in a subway. The 1st and 2nd battle between Letty & Riley (Gina Carano) were great, Carano carried her weight in this film for sure. Paul Walkers fight scene in the prison added a nice touch to something you don’t see from him regularly. Then you had the final battle, Toretto, Hobbs, Shaw & Muscleman where we saw Toretto with a flying head butt and man that was awesome!!!!!!

The Stunts – They laid it all on the table for the stunts in this film. The car scenes were as good as ever and the new cars brought to the table were a nice touch as well. Even as crazy as it looked in the trailer the taking down of the plane was completely insane. I couldn’t believe it while watching it and still not sure I believe it. But that’s what makes this franchise good at what it does.

The Cast – Johnson has really brought this franchise full circle, when he came in on Fast Five he brought a new interesting approach to this film. I thought he made the film what it was and he didn’t stop in this one either. He brings an outside force that is practically unstoppable that has a level head that you don’t get with sometimes “close-minded” Toretto.

Diesel, Walker & the rest of the crew brought the regular old selves to the table in the film. They are made for these roles and perfect them with ease. The Tyrese and Ludacris banter back and forth will never get old honestly. They are the little highlights of the film that I think everyone enjoys.

The Return of Letty – The trailer I thought kind of gave away too much in this but in reality they fooled you on what really happened. Without spoiling it I really enjoyed the build to bringing her character full circle in the movie.

The Bad –

There was a bit of lack of character development in the “bad guys” of the movie. There was Shaw and kind of just everyone else (outside Letty).

The Ugly – None

The Verdict –

4.5 Out 5 Stars

This automatically jumps into my top 5 for 2013; the action in this movie was amazing. The fight scenes, the car chases & the unbelievable twist that keeps you on the edge of your seat. Even better was the after credits that set up Fast & Furious 7 for next summer. This movie joins Iron Man 3 as the must see action movies of the summer.

On Monday, I was able to see movie “The Great Gatsby”. I was looking forward to it when it had its original fall release last year. So I was happy to see it this week. I had never read the book or seen the original movie. So I present the Good, the Bad & the Ugly of “The Great Gatsby”.

The Good

The revealing of Mr. Gatsby, they built it up so good with the story telling of Nick Carraway(Maguire). After just showing the back of his head here or a side view there, you were finally presented Mr. Gatsby.

Leonardo DiCaprio as Jay Gatsby – Leo is easily one of the best actors in this generation. The way he brings it to the table every time he is on-screen is unreal. I believed he was Gatsby; I enjoyed the portrayal of him as Gatsby. He makes it so believable and unreal, that I buy into his character every time.

The Story – I know it was a movie once but as a person that never seen it or read the book. I think the story behind the movie is brilliant. It is a very original idea of a guy with a heart of gold with big picture thinking. Piece by Piece I like how the story slowly brought it all together. Whether it was the ups of the happiness between Daisy & Jay or the downs of watching her & Tom crumble.

The Supporting Cast – I have been a huge fan of Carey Mulligan since the movie Wall Street. I thought she was fantastic in this film, kind of stole the show for me honestly. With every step of Daisy you could see her developing the character.

Tobey Maguire as Nick Carraway – I for one am not the biggest Maguire fan but he was excellent in this role.

Joel Edgerton as Tom Buchanan – He played a big league character and acted it very big league as well. He’s a lying, cheating snob that you just loved to hate.

The score on this was fabulous, with every intense moment the right sound was playing.

The scenery, it was a beautiful film to see. Just the sights from scene to scene were beyond amazing. It was a well put together picture overall visually.

The Bad –

I wasn’t that fond of the music though. For a movie based in the 20’s it was kind of weird hearing Jay-Z playing. I think they could’ve used a Jazz vibe to it instead of that.

The Ugly –

None, the movie was darn near perfect.

The Verdict –

4.5 out of 5 stars

Easily the best film I have seen this year, DiCaprio strikes again with an amazing performance. Baz Luhrmann directs a beautiful film with an amazing story from start to finish. The cast in this film was brilliant, the 2nd must see movie of the year (Iron Man 3 the other). Go see this in the theaters, I promise you won’t regret it.

So the 1st summer blockbuster has hit the theaters and I was beyond excited to see it. I had the opportunity to see Iron Man 3 3D on Thursday. I had high expectations since The Avengers was so good.

The movie took place right after The Avengers movie, where we found that Tony Stark is distraught. Not sleeping and just can’t get over the happenings as they called it in the movie “New York”. You have a new villain in town named the Mandarin. Who is basically going from country to country killing people. So a struggling Tony Stark makes a challenge that he would soon regret.

The Good, the Bad & the Ugly of Iron Man 3 3D

The Good –

Robert Downey Jr. is just the perfect person for the Tony Stark role. I honestly couldn’t imagine what it would be like with someone else as him. He has the witty sarcastic attitude that comes off funny and at times like a prick.

Stark (Downey) & Harley (Simpkins) relationship – One of the key components of the movie was the Stark & Harley relationship. It was also some of my favorite moments in the film; these two were perfect for each other. It had some very funny dialog between the two with some classic one liners from Stark.

The Struggle - I truly enjoy watching a “superhero” have to battle from adversity to overcome the “villain”. Stark was beaten down from the actions in “New York” that he was losing his sense of reality a bit. It’s crazy how they could make you feel for the pain of a Billionaire smart ass.

Ben Kingsley as the Madarin - Definitely not here to spoil anything for anyone but this role was classic. Surely nothing to what I thought it would be but Kingsley was money for sure.

The Supporting Cast – Rebecca Hall (The Town) was well casted, Jon Favreau role had its quirky funny moments & others were well casted and finely put into place. Then you have freshly crowned sexiest woman in Paltrow who took her role in this to a new level. It added some new elements to her character that made me like her in this. Don Cheadle is money in just about everything he is in, again nice job as Col. James Rhodes.

The Fight Scenes – Everything from the small fight scenes to the big blow up at the end was great. The transformation of the Iron Man outfit was amazingly done.

Shane Black – Couldn’t believe when I looked him up this was only his 2nd movie he has directed. Did an amazing job with this movie honestly; from start to finish he kept my interest in the movie. Nothing ever really felt long or drag on longer than it should. To take a huge franchise like Iron Man and make it into what he did was awesome.

The Bad -

Guy Pearce as Aldrich Killian - the setting up of this character to build to what we saw happen was brilliant. But I kind of felt Pearce could’ve been played by someone else. Not that I didn’t like him, just felt the role could’ve had more value with a different person at the helm.

The Ugly -

The “3D” aspect of the film – I went and saw it in 3D and was burned again by it. The movie wasn’t shot that great in 3D, could’ve done without it honestly. I would recommend seeing it in a regular format.

The Verdict –

4 out of 5 stars

From start to finish it was a fun and eventful joy ride. From the witty comedy from Stark to the seriousness that brought the movie to ahead. Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark is just money to watch on-screen. If this is the end of Iron Man, it would be a great way to end the trilogy. It was a great start to the summer Blockbuster season; well worth every penny I spent to see it.

Also do not forget to wait until after the credits to get your normal Marvel little ending.